There aren’t too much manga based off American superheroes. I imagine one of the more well known is Ryoichi Ikegami’s Spider-Man for example. That said, a few have been localized recently — for example, DC has published Jiro Kuwata’s take on Batman, and Marvel released the Avengers taking on Zombies not too long ago. Now we get a new take straight out of Akita Shoten’s Champion RED magazine from Shiori Teshirogi. It begins way too simply.
But there are some intriguing storylines that occur in this one. It probably helps two of DC’s most famous villains take center stage in this manga.
Batman and the Justice League introduces us to Rui Aramiya, a young kid who came to Gotham from Japan to find his parents. They’ve been missing ever since an incident occurred a year ago, and whether they’re dead or alive, he has to find out. The problem? Gotham, already known for its high level of crime, is now even deadlier as a mysterious drink has been spread all over the city, affecting many people’s states of mind. This gets Rui in a life-or-death situation when he runs into police officers changed by the drink.
But luckily, Batman appears to save the day. Then after warning Rui of the dangers of the city, he confronts the supplier of the drink — The Joker. After a tense battle, Batman walks out realizing something even more sinister is going on within the city, and if he wants to solve it, he’s going to need some help. Little does he know, however, that getting additional help might not be the best thing.
Some of the issues with Batman and The Justice League start with the early chapters and this art style. The story’s ordinary, generic stuff — seemingly naive, weak kid enters a dangerous situation, shows he’s not actually weak (but doesn’t like to fight), but has to be saved anyways by Batman. From the introduction of the juice and up to when Batman finishes his fight with the Joker, the story felt shaky up to this point (Ley lines? A Japanese goddess?). It’s not helped by the artwork, which in some spots is good (there’s a page spread with trucks driving into the Joker’s compound that’s drawn super well), and then in other instances is not. The action sequences, for example, felt inconsistent.
But the story takes a turn once Superman’s main villain, Lex Luthor, appears. He brings in a smarter, more calculated flair than the Joker, and he explains his bizarre desire to remake humans. It also brings forth new developments and an unexpected team up, and all of that and whatever has happened to Rui’s parents leads to me being intrigued. You combine that with the backstory involving some of these characters — for example, Batman’s dealing with the loss of Robin because of the Joker — and this manga works out to be quite solid. All in all, once a new villain that Batman has to stop shows up, it appears the manga will bring in some of the best DC villains, and that generally is a good thing. Between that and the other characters eventually showing up, Batman and the Justice League could get a lot better from here.
After the main story, you get a bit of insight of the manga from Shiori Teshirogi herself, alongside character designs of characters you’ve seen and future ones (like Aquaman). It’s simple stuff (not surprisingly), but extras like that are nice to include in a release. If you’re already into DC stuff, this is already gonna go into your collection. As for manga fans, this might only be worth your time if you’re looking for a spin on American comics. The next volume should be a good indicator when it comes to where the series will go next.